Panelist Biographies


  • Dr. Daniel Evans, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA

    Dr. Daniel Evans is an astrophysicist at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, and has been a University Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard since 2005. His research interests lie in energy transport processes in active galactic nuclei, including the accretion of matter on to supermassive black holes, the production and propagation of relativistic jets, and the mechanisms by which jets inject their energy into their surroundings. He emphasizes a multiwavelength approach in his research, and combines observations in the X-ray, optical, and radio wavebands to understand the astrophysics of active galaxies. Dr. Evans has been the principal investigator on numerous satellite-based observing proposals.


  • Dr. Martin Hardcastle, University of Hertfordshire, U.K.

    Dr. Martin Hardcastle is a Royal Society Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. He received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge in 1997 and did post-doctoral work at the University of Bristol before taking up his present post in 2004. His research interests center around the jets from active galactic nuclei, including the methods by which they are fuelled, the physics and physical conditions of the jets themselves, and the interactions of the jets with their environments as revealed by X-ray, optical and radio observations.

    Dr. Hardcastle is author or co-author of 90 papers in scientific journals, over half of which have involved the use of Chandra.

  • Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson , University of Hertfordshire, U.K.

    Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where he also serves as the Frederick P. Rose Director of its Hayden Planetarium. He earned his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. Tyson’s research interests include star formation, supernovae, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way, based on data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as from telescopes in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and in the Andes Mountains of Chile. In 2004, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a 9-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission. Tyson also serves on NASA’s Advisory Council, which helps guide NASA through its perennial need to fit its ambitious vision into its restricted budget. In addition to his professional publications, Tyson writes for the public. Among Tyson's eight books is his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist; and the playful and informative Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, which was a recent New York Times bestseller. Tyson is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.

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